For hundreds of years, the mystery of the construction of the Great Pyramids of Egypt has been a challenge for historians and archaeologists around the world, trying to figure out how the ancients were able to build such huge structures using the primitive techniques of their time.
There are even many people who try to explain the mystery of the pyramid construction with aliens or mysterious civilizations. Recently, however, a group of researchers conducted archaeological excavations in an area once known as Wadi al-Jarf along the Red Sea coast. In one of the ancient caves, papyrus scrolls from the time of the construction of the Great Pyramid of Cheops were found, but unfortunately, these papyrus were not preserved intact.
Through the continuous efforts of scientists, we finally managed to decipher these oldest surviving documents and supplement our knowledge of the history of ancient Egypt.
The Pyramid of Khufu of our time
Transportation of building materials from the Pyramid of Khufu
These papyrus scrolls were written in hieroglyphs and special cursive script used by the Egyptians, and were written by a man named Mele who had just been involved in the construction of the Pyramid of Khufu and held a position roughly similar to that of a modern inspector or foreman. He described in detail the process of collecting materials needed for construction from all over Egypt and transporting them to construction sites.
The "Meyler Diary" contains many details that illustrate the process of building the pyramids
Mailer manages about 40 people whose main job is to transport limestone blocks from a quarry near the city of Tula to a construction site in Giza over a distance of about 20 kilometers, with 2 or 3 round trips every 10 days (the duration of the Egyptian work week), transporting about 30 stones by boat weighing 2 to 3 tons to the construction site. On average, about 200 stones are transported every month, but during the period when the Nile is at high water levels, the number of stones transported will increase several times.
The construction of the pyramids took many years for the Egyptians
Limestone was mainly used to build the outer cladding of the pyramids, however, the limestone would gradually collapse under the influence of external forces (rain, wind, sandstorms, etc.), and in many places in the current Pyramid of Khufu, there are still many places where the granite rock blocks are hewn. Since Mailer's diary records until the end of Khufu's reign, the construction of Khufu's pyramid has been recorded, and the appearance of the completed walls has been completed with limestone. It is also documented that the stone was transported, mainly taking advantage of the Nile's annual flood period, when the water level rose and it was easier for load-carrying ships to pass.
The "Meyler Diary" – the most important historical document
Papyrus also mentions the name of The Chieftain of Mailer, a man named Ankhaf, who was the chief of the region and Khuf's half-brother. It was he who carried out the full administration of the final stages of the pyramid construction, which proved to be originally called Akhet Khufu or "Horizon Khufu" by the Egyptians.
Fragment of the "Mehrel Diary" at the Cairo Museum
In addition, the papyrus scroll contains a work estimate bill for builder materials and products, from which the total number of people employed in the process can be roughly determined. It turns out that at that stage, the pyramid was completed by a total of about 20,000 people. The documents also contain their dates, the years "after the 13th count" (usually carried out every two years in order to properly tax the population), i.e. around the 27th year of the reign of the pharaoh Khufu.
It is clear that the work on the pyramids was completed shortly after the compilation of the "Meyler Diary", after the death of the pharaoh, the Mele diary was hidden in a secret place, and for the tomb of the new pharaoh Khafra (Khuf's son), building materials began to be transported from elsewhere, so this diary document was forgotten for thousands of years.
Modern Pyramid of Khafre (the second highest pyramid after Khufu)
No wonder the discovery of Mailer's diary has been called the "greatest archaeological discovery" of the first two decades of the 21st century. Because it greatly compensates for what we know about ancient Egypt and its people, the pyramids, and other things. It also gives hope for the discovery of an older, similar document in the future.
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